Dravid axed from India one-day squad

Former India captain Rahul Dravid was on Saturday dropped from a 15-man squad to play in the first two one-day internationals against arch-rivals Pakistan next month.

Dravid, 34, had a poor series against Australia, collecting just 51 runs from five outings and was dropped for the final game in Mumbai.

Flamboyant opener Virender Sehwag returns to the team after a gap of five months, having last played in the Afro-Asia Cup one-day series at home in June.

The selectors also included 21-year-old rookie all-rounder Praveen Kumar for the matches to be played in Guwahati (November 5) and Mohali (November 8).

Left-handed opener Gautam Gambhir, who missed the last four matches against Australia due to an injury but played a match-winning knock in a Twenty20 international at Mumbai, returns to the squad.

Chief Selector Dilip Vengsarkar said Dravid was only rested and the selectors had not lost faith in him.

"Dravid has been given a break. He is a great player and I am sure he will make a comeback very soon," Vengsarkar told reporters.

Vengsarkar also said the Test captain as well as the team for the remaining three one-dayers would be named during the second tie at Mohali. The one-dayers will be followed by a three-Test series beginning November 22.

Dravid stepped down as Test and one-day captain after the tour of England in July-September, saying he wanted to concentrate on his batting. But his scores against Australia read 31, 0, 13, 0 and 7.

A prolific batsman, Dravid has scored 10,585 runs in 333 one-dayers.

India's squad for the first two one-day internationals against Pakistan: